Chapter 137: Chapter 64: Poison
"What? Why did you give me poison to eat?" Yu Tuanzi indeed felt his body go numb. He looked at the little child in front of him with disbelief; the childâs delicate face seemed terrifying to him.
"I need to use you, so of course, I must ensure you canât betray me! Donât worry. As long as you come to me every month to get the antidote, nothing will happen to you. I only need you to work for me for five years, and after five years, I will definitely give you the final antidote, and by then, youâll be free, and you wonât lack any Silver."
Gu Chengyu looked at Yu Tuanziâs frightened expression and felt apologetic. Actually, that pill was just the Body Strengthening Pills from the space! Such pills donât need the Spiritual Medicine from the space to be refined, and there are formulas in the space. Itâs easy to make, so thereâs a lot of these pills. Gu Chengyu often crushed the pills and sprinkled them in the Gu Familyâs water tank. As for Yu Tuanziâs numbness, itâs because he had read two medical books in the space, which included charts of human meridians. Earlier, he pressed a spot on Yu Tuanziâs body, which is a numbing nerve, so pressing it certainly made it go numb!
The reason for tricking Yu Tuanzi, saying it was poison, was just to make him more obedient! As for real poison, he couldnât bear to bring it out! Besides, using poison on an ordinary person, his heart wasnât that malicious.
Yu Tuanzi wanted to cry but had no tears. Was this a little child? This was scarier than a fierce ghost!
"I canât agree to this. Give me the antidote, and I wonât work for you." Yu Tuanzi didnât want to put his life in someone elseâs hands.
"Are you sure you want the antidote? Think it over. You have no other way out besides following me." Gu Chengyu felt a headache dealing with the troublesome Yu Tuanzi. Had he known earlier, he wouldnât have chosen Yu Tuanzi; he couldnât tell if he could rely on him. Isnât it because he is just a child, making any task inconvenient? Some matters must be handled by adults. Who would believe a child?
"Have you seen the Silver? I earned this. If you follow me, I wonât treat you poorly in the future. Besides, itâs just for five years! What are you afraid of? But donât think about going to the medical hall for a doctor. This poison cannot be treated by any doctor there, as it was refined by my master, a unique skill of our sect. Without my antidote, no one can save you."
Upon hearing this, Yu Tuanzi was disheartened, realizing that even the medical hallâs doctors couldnât do anything. Well, a barefoot person isnât afraid of wearing shoes, Yu Tuanzi could only cheer himself up inside; itâs better to live poorly than to die well, isnât it? But is this child a demon in disguise? Only five years old and knows so much? And where did he get that Silver and poison from?
"Iâll leave tomorrowâs matter to you, then! From now on, Iâll work for you!"
Gu Chengyu squinted at Yu Tuanzi, but it wasnât enough! He needed a reason; otherwise, it would be troublesome if Yu Tuanzi accidentally let something slip or used it to threaten him later.
"Donât think about it. The Silver for today was given by my master, whose martial arts are unmatched. Itâs too easy for him to deal with you! I have also learned some martial arts from my master! Otherwise, why did you think your knee hurt so much when you jumped into the yard? I shot it with a pebble! The Silver canât be left on you now. If it falls off you tomorrow while youâre shoving and pushing, it would be hard to explain. Iâll bury it under the gate of the courtyard next to my house. You can dig a hole and cover it with soil. Once you escape tomorrow, get it yourself."
After talking for so long, nearly half an hour had passed. Gu Chengyu started yawning.
Yu Tuanzi, upon hearing that Gu Chengyu had a master, understood it all. Thinking about martial arts, he started to feel hopeful again.
"Your master knows martial arts too? Why donât you let him take me as a disciple too!"
"My master wouldnât be interested in you. Look at how old you are already? Still thinking of learning martial arts? You have to start learning martial arts from a young age! Youâre too old for that now; itâs impossible to learn." Gu Chengyu replied irritably. This was like wanting more after seizing an opportunity, focusing on martial arts without having solved basic survival needs.
Yu Tuanzi felt a bit embarrassed at those words â too old?
"But if you perform well, in the future, I can ask my master to find you some external martial arts to learn a few moves. Whether youâre qualified or not, I donât know. In any case, you must do your tasks well. Once youâre safe, stay at home, and Iâll find you if I need anything. Iâm leaving now!"
After finishing, Gu Chengyu didnât care about Yu Tuanziâs reaction and walked towards the door holding an oil lamp. Speaking so much today had worn him out; he needed to go back and rest.
After sleeping until daylight, Gu Chengyu was getting dressed while yawning.
Mrs. Lv got off the kang and saw her son yawning repeatedly, then started complaining to Mr. Gu.
"This darn Yu Tuanzi! If it werenât for him coming to steal at night, how would Xiao Bao miss out on sleep?"
"Sigh! He is quite a pitiful person! And we know how the village chief will deal with him." Mr. Gu was already dressed and sat by the kang. There were still many things to deal with today; one thing after another, there seemed to be no moment of peace. Sigh! Itâs all caused by poverty!
"Dad! Actually, we canât report this to the authorities. Reporting it would bring disgrace to our village. I bet the village chief thinks the same. But who knows how the chief will punish him."
Gu Chengyu thought of Lin Lizeâs character; he wouldnât allow a thief incident in the village to disgrace him. Besides, he still had to consider Yu Tuanziâs blind old mother. If something really happened to Yu Tuanzi, what would happen to his blind mother? His sister would still need to get married, wouldnât she?
"Wouldnât that be letting him off too easy? If we donât report him this time, who knows if he might come again next time?" Mrs. Lv was somewhat dissatisfied; having a thief sneak into the house in the middle of the night was scary. Fortunately, it was discovered early; otherwise, if Silver were really stolen, theyâd have no place to cry!
"We definitely wonât report it. Iâll go see if the second son is up. Tell him to get the village chief to come over." Mr. Gu stood up, placed the tobacco pipe in his waist, and left the main house.
"Xiao Bao! Hurry up! Old Wang will be here soon." Mrs. Lv urged Gu Chengyu to go wash up.
After washing, Gu Chengyu ate two steamed corn breads and, when his mother wasnât watching, slung his book bag over his back and left the courtyard. He looked around, seeing no one, opened the gate of the neighboring courtyard, went inside, and half-closed the door. On the right side of the courtyard gate, he dug a small hole with a branch, placed the Silver ingot inside, and covered it with dirt again.
This courtyard usually had no visitors, and the house had half-collapsed, with weeds growing all over. The freshly dug soil was quite obvious, so Yu Tuanzi wouldnât have trouble finding it. After burying the Silver, Gu Chengyu peeked outside the gate, seeing no one. He quickly came out, closed the gate, and ran straight to the Gu Familyâs courtyard gate.